The largest example of a problematic binary in House of the Spirits is that between beauty and the grotesque. This is illustrated clearly in the instance of Rosa the Beautiful. She is portrayed as somebody of stunning beauty, a girl who is even shined upon by God because she is so pretty. But as the narrative of Rosa continues, it is found out that, in actuality, she has many strange physical features, such as green hair and yellow eyes. Her beauty in the first chapter is also contradicted by her surroundings. In the midst of a somewhat "ugly" community, one that features animals such as Barrabas, stands Rosa the Beautiful. The only catch is that she really isn't all that beautiful. 

Another problematic binary is that between children and adults in the book. There are quite a few cases in which we see children having to take care of their parents, such as in the case of Esteban and Ferula. The book seems to have issues between children and adults in that the children themselves reach adulthood and are ready to grow up and move on with their lives, but their parents and families end up holding them back.

problematic binary

I think that relationships between men and women create problematic binaries in several chapters of the book. For example Esteban loves his mother but chooses to abandon her for almost all of his adult life. He's not abandoning her because he didn't love, he's abandoning her

because he can't deal with long illness and the responsibilities it brings. Ferula is another example of a problematic binary in the same situation. She is expected to look after her mother because of the culture she lives in. In public she puts on a good face but in private she resents her mother and her brother because her youth is wasted. A different problematic binary is seen in the character of Rosa. She is said to be very beautiful yet Allende describes her with unnatural and sea like green hair.

Ignorance and education

One of the many problematic binaries in HOS is that between the ignorance of the people of Tres Maries and the seeming desire to have them educated by Estaban Trueaba. When Estaban returns to his plantation of Tres Maries in chapter two he immediately begins to rebuild it to his, western educated, wishes. He institutes many reforms and builds modern facilities, he also rebuilds the main house. Since all of the residents there were simple farmers they were taught the necessary skills by Estaban from the books that he got from a mail order catalogue. He also proposes building a 6 room school house because he aspired to the day when all the children and adults of Tres Maries would be able to read write and do simple arithmetic"(Allende 59). This may make it seem that he is in favor of the education of his peasants. However this quote goes on "even though he was not in favor of them acquiring any additional learning, for fear that they would fill their minds with ideas unsuited to their station and condition"(Allende 59). This is quite an abrupt turn around and brilliantly highlights how Esbaban was trying in equal measure to keep his peasants ignorant whale at the same time trying to educate them.

The problematic binaries are prevalent in the story of The house of the spirits. IN the story there are many contradicting ideas as well as many binary that are to say the least problematic. For example the idea as described in the first chapter that Rosa is beautiful when she has the charicteristics of a sea dueling creature. As well as the over all dictatorship of man over women through out the story, and the will of clara and her mother to have equal rights.

Problematic Binaries

In House of the Spirits, one of the main problematic binaries as of yet is the old world man domination/patriarchy vs. the new feminism "revolution". This can be seen through the characters of Clara and Esteban. Clara carries on her mother's desire to have women speak out, to go for office and to gain power within their families. In this, Clara represents a new modernized world. Esteban, although he has a want to stay in the know, refuses to change his old worldly views that men should be the Patrons, of their families, and this is how it should stay.

Problematic binaries

There are many problematic binaries in chapter 1 to 3 of The House of The Spirits. One of them is the conflict between women and men. This is seen in the Trueba family. Ferula, Esteban's sister, has no problems talking care of her sick mother, if somebody ask her, but sometimes she is jealous of her brother Esteban. He is able to go out, travels, has his work, and comes only sometimes back home. But Ferula is not mad of his brother because he has a better life, she does not like the rules in the community. She wishes to have the same freedom as Esteban but she can not do it because the society at this time expected that women have a different life stile than men.
Another example of the conflict between women and men is Pancha Garcia. Esteban rapes her and he does not get in trouble. Pancha grew up in this society therefore she does not fight about it. She expected something like this. Also Esteban knows that he would not get in trouble because he knows that men has more rights than women at this time.